Adjustable riser duct floor support



Dec. 28, 1965 G, E. BARNSTEAD ETAL ADJUSTABLE RISER DUCT FLOOR SUPPORT 2Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed Aug. 21, 1962 INVENTORS Gago/VE@ E. WP/wwwa Dec.28, 1965 G, E. BARNSTEAD ETAL 3,226,472

ADJUSTABLE RISER DUCT FLOOR SUPPORT Filed Aug. 21, 1962 2 Sheets-Sheet 2(WALL I 'gj-vX VI an o Q/f J6 l L/! j C j a: 3 C

7/ "70 INVENTORS FT. 5a IIE. 5b EE 5c: Arran/xv United States PatentOfice ADJUSTABLE RlSER DUCT FLOR SUPPORT Gardner E. Barnstead, GardenCity, Donald F. Letosky,

Detroit, and Donald E. Missett, Warren, Mich., assignors to I-T-ECircuit Breaker Company, Philadelphia,

Pa., a corporation of Pennsylvania Filed Aug. 21, 1962, Ser. No. 218,3979 Claims. (Cl. 174-100) This invention relates to bus duct in generaland more particularly to means for supporting a vertical section of busduct.

As is well-known to the art, bus duct is a convenient means fordistributing greater than minimal quantities of electrical energy withina localized area. Briey, bus duct consists of an elongated housing witha plurality of elongated bus bars disposed therein. Means are providedto maintain the bus bars in spaced parallel relationship insulated fromeach other and also insulated from the housing and the housing isprovided with a plurality of side openings through which a device isenterable to take power from the duct.

In general bus duct is manufactured in sections of convenient length,say feet, for handling during installation. For the most part the ductsections are assembled to form a horizontally extending bus duct runtypically one hundred or more feet in length. However, certain portionsof the run may extend vertically and even be required to pass throughthe floor of a building. Vertically extending bus duct is referred to asriser duct.

The instant invention is concerned vidth providing means for the supportof riser duct. In particular this invention provides means forsupporting riser duct on the floor through which the duct passes.

The instant invention provides a support plate secured directly to theduct housing and a support mounting angle mounted to the support plate.Adjustable means carried by the mounting angle are adapted to bearagainst the floor adjacent to the opening through which the riser ductextends. The adjustable means may be set to raise or lower the riserduct as required.

Accordingly a primary object of this invention is to provide a novelfloor support means for riser duct.

Another object is to provide a universal floor support means adapted foruse with many different sizes of riser duct.

Still another object is to provide novel support means having provisionsfor utilizing either spring mounting or direct iloor mounting.

A further object is to provide a floor support mounting which is readilyinstalled.

These objects as well as other objects of this invention shall becomereadily apparent after reading the following description of theaccompanying drawings in which:

FIGURE 1 is a perspective of a typical bus duct section.

FIGURE 2 is a transverse cross-section of the duct taken through line2--2 of FIGURE 1.

FIGURE 3 is a perspective of a through door riser duct section havingthe floor support means of the instant invention mounted thereto.

FIGURE 4 is a perspective of the support plate.

FIGURE 5 is a perspective of the support mounting angle.

FIGURE 6 is a schematic illustrating the manner in which the floorsupport means of the instant invention is mountable to diierent sizeduct.

FIGURE 7 is a schematic illustrating a spring mounting means.

FIGURE 8' is a schematic illustrating a direct lloor mounting means.

FIGURE 9A through 9C are schematics illustrating a 3,226,472 PatentedVDec. 28, 1965 typical method for installing riser duct extending througha floor and a ceiling opening.

Now referring to the figures. Bus duct section 10 illustrated in FIGUREl is of a type described in detail in co-pending U.S. patentapplication, Serial No. 817,548, filed June 2, 1959, now Patent No.3,104,276, entitled, Through Bolt Joint for Bus Duct with I. B. Cataldoet al. as inventors, and assigned to the assignee of the instantinvention. Briefly, duct section 10 comprises elongated housing 11having four insulation covered elongated laminated bus bars 12 through15 disposed therein in spaced parallel relationship. Duct housing 11 isconstructed of opposed side sections 16, 17 and opposed end sections 18,19. Case bolts 20 secure side sections 16, 17 to end sections 18, 19 toform an enclosure of generally rectangular cross-section.

The ends of sections 16 through 19 which receive case bolts 20 areoffset from the main portions of sections 16 through 19 so that thesemain portions are somewhat recessed. End section extensions 21 areappropriately spaced from portions of side section 16 and 17 to formtracks 22 for guiding sliding movement of covers 23. As is well-known tothe art, covers 23 are provided for each of the plurality of access orplug-in openings 24 in side sections 16, 17.

Clamping members 26, 27 are welded or otherwise secured to the internalsurfaces of side sections 16 and 17, respectively. Each of the clampingmembers 26, 27 is of generally Ushaped cross-section with the armsthereof outwardly turned at their ends. Bus bars 12 through 15 aredisposed with their edges abutting the webs of members 26 and 27 whilethe side surfaces of bus bars 12 and 15 are engaged by the arms ofmembers 26 and 27.

The through floor riser duct section 30 illustrated in FIGURE 3 is avertically extending duct section of the type shown in FIGURES 1 and 2.Riser section 30 as illustrated is so short that plug-in openings arenot provided. However, it is to be understood that a riser section ofsufficient length may be provided with plug-in openings. The duct wallor walls having the plug-in openings 24- is often referred to as aplug-in wall. For riser section 30 consider that wall 32 of housing 31as well as the wall opposed thereto will be extensions of plug-in wallsof an aligned riser section.

The mounting means of the instant invention comprises generally U-shapedsupport plate 35 (FIGURE 4), disposed across plug-in wall 32 and securedin place by means of case bolts 36 which secure plug-in wall 32 to endsections 37, 38. -Support plate 35 is mounted with arms 41, 42 thereofextending along end sections 37, 38, respectively. The web 43 and arms41, 22 of support plate 35 are provided with la plurality of threadedapertures to receive bolts for the fastening of support mounting angle50.

In FIGURE 3 bolts 51 are shown extending through slots 52 of verticalmounting angle leg 54 to secure mounting angle 50 to support plates 35.The other leg 55 of mounting angle 50 is provided with two squareapertures 56 which receive retaining nuts 57 (FIGURE 8). Leveling screws58 are threadably mounted to nuts 57 so as to be adjustable with respectto leg 55. Lock nuts 59 on the top side of leg 55 are provided tomaintain screws 58 in their adjusted positions. As seen in FIGURE 8 thelower end of riser duct section 30 extends through floor aperture 61 andthe lower ends of leveling screws 58 rest upon floor 60 which thensupports the weight of riser duct section 30.

It is noted that the wall opposed to plug-in wall 32 is also providedywith a support plate 35, a mounting angle 50, and adjusting levelingscrews 58.

FIGURES 9A through 9C illustrate a typical installation procedure. Firstriser section 65 is installed through lower floor 66 with floor supportmeans 67 establishing the vertical position of riser section 65.Thereafter riser section 68 is installed abover riser section 65. It isnoted that section 68 is not provided with any floor support means. Thenanother riser section 70 having floor support means 69 is droppedthrough the opening in upper iloor 71 and is received by the upper endof section 68. Any deviation in the dimension between floors 66 and 71is compensated for by adjusting the leveling screws of the floor supportmeans 67 and 69.

It is noted that the topmost riser section 70 may be dropped straightdown into position since the lower ends of its bus bars are providedwith open ended slots extending parallel to the longitudinal axes of thebus bars.

The plurality of apertures in web 43 of support plate 35 permitv aninitially vertical adjustment of mounting angle 15 relative to supportplate 35.

In bus duct construction, as illustrated in FIGURE 6, it is the practiceto maintain the width of the plug-in wall constant and merely change thewidth of the end walls for different duct ratings. For diierent ductratings bus bar thickness remains constant. It is only the width of thebus bars which changes. Thus, the floor support means comprising plate35, mounting angle 50 and leveling screws 58 may be utilized with busduct extending through a wide size length. This is accomplished byhaving the web 43 of support plate 35 across the plug-in wall with arms41 and 42 extending along the housing end sections. The support mountingangles illustrated in phantom in FIGURE 6 show different size unitswhich may be mounted along the end walls of the duct housing extendingfrom the arm of one support plate to the arm of the other support plate.In this case mounting angles of different lengths are required fordifferent size ducts. This situation arises when a plug-in face passesvery close to a building wall as illustrated.

It is noted that the direct floor mounting illustrated in FIGURE 8 maybe replaced by a spring mounting of the type illustrated in FIGURE 7. Inthe arrangement of FIGURE 7 screw 81 is mounted with its head restingupon bearing plate 82 and extending upward through a clearance aperturein the horizontal leg 84 of support angle 85. Compression spring 86 isdisposed between leg 84 and screw head 81 so that the weight of riserduct 30 is supported by spring 86. Upward movement of the riser section30 is limited by nut 87 mounted to screw 81 above mounting angle 85 andspaced therefrom.

While the invention has been described in connection with plug-in typeduct it should be understood that the support means is also useful fordistribution duct which does not have plug-in openings.

Thus, this invention provides a novel oor support arrangement forpositioning riser duct. The arrangement is such that the supportingmeans may be readily mounted to the riser duct and the same sizesupporting means may be utilized with many diiferent sizes and riserduct.

Although there has been described a preferred embodiment of this novelinvention, many variations and modifications will now be apparent tothose skilled in the art. Therefore, this invention is to be limited,not by the specific disclosure herein, but only by the appending claims.

The embodiments of the invention in which an exclusive privilege rproperty is claimed are dened as follows:

1. The combination comprising a bus duct section and support meanstherefor; said section including an elongated housing and a plurality ofbus bars disposed therein, extending parallel to the longitudinal axisof the housing, and insulated from each other; said support meansincluding a rst member, means securing said member to a side of saidhousing with a portion of said rst member extending outwardly at rightangles to said side, and adjusting means mounted on said portion andextending parallel to said longitudinal axis; said means securing saidfirst member to a side of said housing comprising a second memberinterposed between said iirst member and said housing, said secondmember having a series of holes therein spaced along a line extendingparallel to said longitudinal axis, and means cooperating with only someholes of said series of holes to secure said rst member in position withsaid portion appropriately positioned along said longitudinal axis.

2. The combination comprising a bus duct section and support meanstherefor; said section including an elongated housing and a plurality ofbus bars disposed therein, extending parallel to the longitudinal axisof the housing, and insulated from each other; said. support meansincluding a rst member, means securing said member to a iirst side ofsaid housing with a portion of said iirst member extending outwardly atright angles to said iirst side, and adjusting means mounted on saidportion and extending parallel to said longitudinal axis; said meanssecuring said iirst member to said rst side of said housing comprisinganother member interposed between said rst member and said housing;means for selectively positioning said iirst member on said anothermember at any one of a plurality of predetermined locations; saidanother member being of a U-shape with a web and an arm at each end ofsaid web; said web extending across said iirst side and said armsextending opposite other sides of said housing adjacent to said rstside.

3. The combination of claim 2 in which the rst member includes anotherportion at right angles to said portion, said another portion abuttingsaid web in face-toface relationship.

4. The combination of claim 2 in which the adjusting means comprises ascrew.

5. The combination of claim Z in which the housing is of generallyrectangular cross-section and includes another side extending betweensaid other side and confronting said rst side; bolt means securing saidfirst side, said another side, and said other sides to each other; saidbolt means also securing said another member to said housing.

6. The combination of claim 2 in which the housing is of generallyrectangular cross-section and includes another side extending betweensaid other sides and confronting said first side; an additional memberof U-shape, said additional member mounted to said housing with its webextending across said another side and its arms extending opposite saidother sides in a direction toward the arms of said another member.

7. The combination of claim 6 in which the housing is provided with boltmeans securing said irst side, said another Side, and said other sidesto each other, said bolt means also securing said another member andsaid additional member to said housing.

8. The combination of claim 6 in which there is a further member securedto said additional member with a portion positioned at right angles tosaid longitudinal axis, and additional adjusting means mounted to saidportion of said further member and extending parallel to saidlongitudinal axis.

9. The combination of claim 6 in which said rst member extends in frontof one of said other sides and is secured to an arm of said anothermember and an arm of said additional member.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,812,654 11/1957Hoseason 174-57 X 2,840,630 6/1958 Born et al. 174-100 2,998,951 9/1961Henderson 174-100 X 3,063,471 11/1962 Murray 174-57 X JOHN F. BURNS,Primary Examiner.

JOHN P. WILDMAN, LARAMIE E. ASKIN, Examiners.

2. THE COMBINATION COMPRISING A BUS DUCT SECTION AND SUPPORT MEANSTHEREFOR; SAID SECTION INCLUDING AN ELONGATED HOUSING AND A PLURALITY OFBUS BARS DISPOSED THEREIN, EXTENDING PARALLEL TO THE LONGITUDINAL AXISOF THE HOUSING, AND INSULATED FROM EACH OTHER; SAID SUPPORT MEANSINCLUDING A FIRST MEMBER, MEANS SECURING SAID MEMBER TO A FIRST SIDE OFSAID HOUSING WITH A PORTION OF SAID FIRST MEMBER EXTENDING OUTWARDLY ATRIGHT ANGLES TO SAID FIRST SIDE, AND ADJUSTING MEANS MOUNTED ON SAIDPORTION AND EXTENDING PARALLEL TO SAID LONGITUDINAL AXIS; SAID MEANSSECURING SAID FIRST MEMBER TO SAID FIRST SIDE OF SAID HOUSING COMPRISINGANOTHER MEMBER TO SAID FIRST SIDE OF SAID HOUSING MEMBER AND SAIDHOUSING; MEANS FOR SELECTIVELY POSITIONING SAID FIRST MEMBER ON SAIDANOTHER MEMBER AT ANY ONE OF A PLURALITY OF PREDETERMINED LOCATIONS;SAID ANOTHER MEMBER BEING OF A U-SHAPE WITH A WEB AND AN ARM AT EACH ENDOF SAID WEB; SAID WEB EXTENDING ACROSS SAID FIRST SIDE AND SAID ARMSEXTENDING OPPOSITE OTHER SIDES OF SAID HOUSING ADJACENT TO SAID FIRSTSIDE.